Friday, August 10, 2012

Fosdick Lake's Inviting New Beaches Intice Forbidden Toxic Swimming

Fosdick Lake Beach

Mid morning, this second Friday of August, the temperature was barely in the 80s, with a strong wind blowing.

Due to these ideal weather conditions, in the mid morning time frame, I thought I'd drive to the top of Mount Tandy, under the Fort Worth Space Needle, that you see near the center of the picture, and have myself some might fine Tandy Hills hiking.

But.

By the time the time came for my regularly scheduled noonday constitutional, the temperature had risen into the low 90s and that strong wind had settled back into being a slight breeze.

So.

I decided today was a good day to take around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

Due to the lack of incoming water, Fosdick Lake is quickly shrinking. As you can see, in the picture, beautiful sandy beaches have now been exposed.

The pristine waters of Fosdick Lake, with its new beaches, looks so inviting I would have gone for a swim if it were not for the signs warning me not to do so, due to the toxicity that pollutes the water in the lake.

I imagine, as the volume of water shrinks, that the toxicity level concentrates into ever higher levels of toxicity.

One is also warned not to launch a boat on Fosdick Lake.

I wonder if the no boat prohibition is due to that toxicity eating away at the boat's structure? I saw that happen in an awful movie starring Pierce Brosnan about a volcano erupting in the Pacific Northwest. Somehow that eruption made a lake toxic, like Fosdick Lake, with boats being eaten up by the acid. If I remember right Pierce Brosnan made it safely to shore.

I have an inflatable kayak. I've been tempted, a time or two, to pump it up and take it for a float on Fosdick Lake. But then the prospect of being the victim of an on the water police chase, or the water of Fosdick Lake eating a hole in my inflatable kayak, discourages me.